Strawberry Fields
by ReadWriteFangirl
Summary: [Bechloe AU] Re-upload. Beca makes contact with The Bellas when she's recruited to choreograph for their Flashlight tour. From day one, she can't get those Strawberry Fields out of her mind.


Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. - Aristotle

* * *

 _"When tomorrow comes,_ _  
_ _I'll be on my own._ _  
_ _Feeling frightened of_ _  
_ _the things that I don't know._ _  
_ _When tomorrow comes,_ _  
_ _when tomorrow comes,_ _  
_ _when tomorrow comes."_

Chloe sang quietly whilst she absentmindedly laced up her shoes. Today was the first day of dance rehearsals for The Bellas' Flashlight Tour, which would visit three continents in six months. It was eight o'clock in the morning when Chloe had walked into the studio, coffee in hand, fully expecting to see her bandmates, Aubrey, Stacie, and Emily, already practicing. But alas, they had stopped off at Denny's for breakfast, leaving Chloe alone until at least nine thirty.

Now, her watch read nine thirty-one, and she anticipated their entrance any second now, hopefully with a bacon roll that had her name written on it. When the door finally did swing open, Chloe immediately turned around, her shoulders falling slightly when she noticed that it wasn't her friends with her breakfast, but a short, brunette woman holding an iPad and a portable speaker.

"Can I help you?"

Chloe giggled when the newcomer dropped the speaker, muttering a 'fuck' under her breath before retrieving it from the hard floor. She looked at Chloe, who was still sitting on the floor, and said, "I'm looking for the rehearsals for the Bellas' Flashlight Tour." Chloe raised an eyebrow. Wasn't it obvious?

"Great!" Chloe said as she dismissed her first impression of the woman, removing the negative thoughts about numerous piercings form her mind, smiling as she looked down at her. "I'm Chloe," She continued to watch the brunette as she began setting up the speaker and connecting it to her iPad before playing music through the room. "You are?"

"Beca."

Chloe nodded awkwardly as she tried to avoid staring at Beca, choosing instead to concentrate on the door, which opened only moments later.

"Did you bring me any food?" Chloe immediately asked as her three best friends walked into the room. She smiled widely as Emily placed a take away box on her lap which she quickly opened, exposing a bacon roll that smelt delicious. "Amazing, thanks."

"It's from McDonald's, sorry. Denny's had no soy milk." Emily opened her bottle of water and sipped from it. "Who's that?" She motioned towards Beca, who was running through some moves.

Chloe took a bite of the sandwich, "Her name is Beca. I think she's our choreographer."

"She's smoking." Stacie folded her arm as her eyes raked over Beca's body, lingering noticeably on her backside. It wasn't long before Stacie received an elbow to the side.

"Back off," Aubrey looked down at Chloe, the redhead watching Beca as she ate her bacon roll, not even caring that she was missing her mouth most of the time, "I think Chloe has dibs."

"She's not a piece of meat, jeez," Emily commented, her eyes ignoring Beca's figure. "Her sweatpants are cute though, I wonder where she got them from." Stacie shook her head at the younger girl's words. Emily always was like their innocent little sister, and that would likely never change.

"Are we going to practice today or not?" Aubrey asked after clearing her throat to get Beca and Chloe's attention. Beca nodded, quickly playing Flashlight quietly from her iPad.

"This is a great song." Emily beamed, her smile full of pride at Beca's remark. Beca walked over to her bag and picked up four fake microphones, handing one to each member of the group. "Anyway, since I haven't got a clear idea as to how much dancing you guys are wanting to do, this session is mostly going to just be focused on listening to your sound and helping me understand how you tend to work as a group. That way, it'll be that much easier to make sure your choreography is flawless and that you're all comfortable with it." Beca sat against the mirror. "So, you guys sing Flashlight like you normally do, and I'll think of choreography that's suitable."

As they sang, Chloe's gaze was constantly drawn to Beca. Chloe swallowed nervously as she began her solo.

 _"I see the shadows long beneath the mountain top,_ _  
_ _but I'm not the afraid when the rain won't stop._ _  
_ _Cause you light the way,_ _  
_ _you light the way, you light the way_ _…"_

She watched as Beca tapped her chin before drawing a few diagrams on her notepad.

The Bellas' harmonies were perfect. When they finished the song, they came together for a group hug. It was one thing they had always done, because they were more than just a band. They were a family. Afterwards, all four women looked expectantly at Beca, anticipating her response to their performance. Beca simply continued writing in her notebook.

"Did you like it?" Aubrey was the first one to break the silence, taking a step towards Beca who was knocking her pen against her teeth, "Emily's song is really great-"

"Shh, I'm thinking." Aubrey's jaw dropped, the look on her face a humorous mixture of disgust and shock. "You guys can have a five-minute break."

Aubrey walked over to their bags and huffed, her emerald eyes staring daggers at the brunette woman, "she's so rude!"

* * *

"Five, six, seven, eight," Beca counted out as she watched The Bellas complete the moves she'd taught them in the past hour. Thirty seconds wasn't a long time for a song of three minutes and twenty-nine seconds, but she was already impressed with what they'd accomplished so far.

 _"I_ _'_ _m stuck in the dark,_ _  
_ _but you're my flashlight._ _  
You_ _'_ _re getting me, getting me_ _  
_ _through the night."_

Beca was pleasantly surprised by the Bellas' sound and by how well the choreography she'd created fit with their style. They all seemed nice, and they had a depth to them which she hadn't noticed from any other band she'd ever worked with. Many of them were shallow and superficial, in it for nothing more than the fame and money, but it was obvious that The Bellas shared a much deeper connection.

 _"Getting me through the night."_

Beca smiled at the final harmony, she hadn't expected them to be the type of people to hug after every single song. She realised she'd been extremely wrong in that assumption as she watched the group pile into a massive hug on the floor, all of them giggling as they fell.

"Beca, come and join us!" It had been Emily who made the request, but it was Chloe who actually pulled her down into the hug before taking out her phone and taking a picture, with everyone except Beca smiling widely.

 _ **ChloeBeale: Fun in tour rehearsals! W/ TheRealAubreyPosen StacieConrad GetTheJunk and Beca, our awesome choreographer! #FlashlightTour2k15**_

Emily looked at her phone, first liking the photo and then checking her calendar. "Urgh, we have a dinner with Tom and Jesse." A groan resounded from everyone except Chloe and Beca, the redhead giving her friends a pointed look and Beca looking blankly at the youngest of the group.

"Who are Jesse and Tom?"

"They're asses," Stacie muttered. Beca raised her eyebrows.

"Well, that explains everything," she replied sardonically.

"You know the band Treble?" Stacie asked.

Beca's face continued to show disinterest and confusion, whilst Chloe stood up and left the room, pulling her blonde best friend behind her.

"I'm surprised you've never heard of them, they're incredibly popular these days," Emily said. Beca shrugged. "Anyway, Jesse and Tom are in Treble, a boyband who don't write nor play their songs on instruments."

"I see," Beca said with a slow nod. "And that's a bad thing because...?"

"It's kind of a long story. Basically, Chloe is dating Tom. It's partially because it's good press, but they actually really like one another," Stacie said with a sigh. "And Aubrey is dating Jesse, but unlike Chloe and Tom, it's solely for the press. Aubrey doesn't really care for Jesse, and he doesn't seem to get that their 'relationship' is just for show."

"Seriously?"

Emily sighed and nodded. "It's why she's always so stressed lately. She's not even straight. She came out when she was eighteen, but our record label doesn't want an openly lesbian pop star, essentially, so she was forced to claim it was a 'phase' and that Jesse's the love of her life."

"That's insane. How can they be allowed to do that?" Beca asked.

"All of this started when we were basically unknown and our record label was providing us with pretty much everything. They basically threatened to drop us immediately if we didn't comply," Emily said.

"Dude, that's terrible. What the hell..."

Stacie sighed, "I know. Aubrey's so amazing, she doesn't deserve this."

Beca smiled sadly at Stacie. It was obvious that she cared a great deal for Aubrey.

"Sorry to bother you with our problems," Stacie said. "I'm sure you're not really interested in all of this crap." Beca shook her head.

"No, it's fine. It's actually pretty refreshing to see a band that's more than just a business venture," Beca replied. "You guys are more like a family." Stacie and Emily grinned. "So, a month of rehearsals then?" Both of the Bellas nodded. "I guess that means I have to work quickly."

Stacie chuckled, "I'm sure you can do it though."

"I hope so." Beca looked to the two women flanking her. "So _Flashlight_ is a pretty intense song for a stereotypical girl band..."

Both women shrugged, "What can I say? Our record label had to do something to prevent Aubrey from quitting once we hit the big leagues." Stacie crossed her legs. "We're allowed to write our songs, _Flashlight_ being the first of Em's to be released."

"Have you ever heard of _Our Closet_ , Beca?" Emily looked hopefully at her.

Stacie scoffed when Beca shook her head, "Thank god — it's by the Trebles. It's actually a top ten hit. It's supposed to be about the way girls — Aubrey included — have to hide their true sexualities, but the music video turn that potentially nice meaning into an unfortunate slur into how queer women are sexualised by straight men and forced to 'get rid' of their gay." Stacie's finger quotations stood by to emphasis her point. Beca watched intently as Emily pulled out her phone to show her the music video.

Beca's features contorted into a mixture of disgust, shock and hatred as the music video progressed, "that's… Well that's homophobic as fu—flip; sorry Em."

"Mhmm." Stacie shrugged, watching as Aubrey walked back into the room, "hey Bree, we were thinking about inviting Beca to dinner, it could take Jesse's attention away from you?"

"I guess that's okay…" A pair of emerald eyes fell in Beca's direction, the intensity making the choreographer look away for a moment.

"Awesome!" Emily said as she stood up, picking up her water bottle and bag. She smiled at Beca and held her phone out to her. "Put your number in there and we'll put you in our group chat, that way we can tell you where the restaurant is." Beca typed her number into Emily's phone and proceeded to watch as they began to leave the studio.

"See you later Becs!" Stacie called over her shoulder before the door swung shut.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Hello! Long time no see, really long time no see. I'm not sure whether you'll get an email for this or not, but if not I shall re-upload this as a new story.**_

 _ **MASSIVE THANKS TO DRACOSSACKS WHO HAD TO SPEND A WHILE SORTING OUT MY MESS OF A CHAPTER!**_


End file.
